25 Days of Giveaways from McCall's, Butterick, and Vogue Patterns

This just in!  Every day for 25 days, the McCall's Pattern Company (who own McCall's, Butterick, and Vogue Patterns) is giving stuff away.  For Free!!!


In order to qualify to win, you must be an email subscriber to Butterick.com, McCallPattern.com, VoguePatterns.com, or ClubBMV.com.  Sign up for their newsletter on any of those sites.

So, what can you win?  Yesterday's winner won a DVD by sewing guru Claire Shaeffer, while today's winner will win 2.38 yards of beautiful silver-colored crepe-back satin.  Stay posted to see what tomorrow's offerings are.

Do you want to know something fun? This is my best friend Laura on the cover of the Winter/Holiday 2010 Vogue Patterns Catalogue. Isn't she lovely? Laura and I met at a casting in NY aeons ago. We were roomies for several years-- first in Manhattan and then later in Brooklyn. Next time you go to the fabric store you can say, "Hi Laura!!!"

Oh Joy!!

This beauty came in the mail today:

I haven't counted it yet, but I think all the pattern pieces are present (unlike this playsuit pattern I bought off of eBay a while back).  I've been wanting to make a playsuit for a while.  I have the cutest picture of my grandma wearing one, and I want to make one similar to it.

My Golden Grams, on right-- isn't she stunning?

It's fall here now, with winter well on its way, so I may put the pattern aside for the time being, but it is going on my to do list!

XOXO,

My first Homemade Vintage Dress

I cannot pinpoint when it was that I started loving vintage fashions.  Growing up, my sister and I loved watching AMC (American Movie Classics), and later, TCM (Turner Classic Movies).  I don't know how we got into that either (although my parents did consider an almost yearly watching of Gone With the Wind as an integral part of any good Southern upbringing), but afternoons after school were generally filled with the visages of Jimmy (Stewart), Cary (Grant), the Hepburns (Katherine and Audrey), Liz (Taylor), Paul (Newman), and others plastered on the television screen.  I can only imagine with so many beautiful clothes in the movies, designed by the likes of Edith Head and Adrian, that it is only natural that many of the styles sank into my subconscious.

I have been eyeing vintage patterns on eBay for some time, but decided to go with a current Butterick pattern.  It is a reissue of one from 1947 (B5209).  The great thing about buying these reissued patterns is that you know all the pattern pieces are there, the patterns are printed (many older pattern pieces don't have anything printed on them-- they're simply blank pieces of tissue paper), and the directions are modernized.  It really is the best of both worlds.

I wrote a review of the pattern on PatternReview.com, detailing what I changed about the pattern and my recommendations.  You can read it here.

Cover Girl

One of my favorite clients to work for is the McCall Pattern Company, who also owns Butterick and Vogue Patterns.  Everyone there is wonderful, and I have been working for them for a while, so they feel like family.  I also always thought it was a perfect fit-- I love sewing, and buy their patterns frequently.  Moreover, my great grandfather, who died in 1933, worked at McCall's as a printer.  It feels like things have come full circle!

If you happen to be in a fabric store anytime soon, you can see me on the back cover of the Fall 2010 Butterick catalogue.  I am on several of the patterns inside the book as well.

In sewing-related news, yesterday after dropping my parents off at the Philadelphia Airport (they're off to Italy for vacation!), I took advantage of my proximity to the city to go to one of my favorite fabric stores.  After being relegated to the fabric-cum-craft stores in Delaware, it is indeed a divine experience to browse through the bolts of cloth in a real fabric store.  It is a strange thing indeed, but I derive true joy from examining and petting all of the different textiles and trims that they had on offer.

Just a peek in my buggy (that's the southern term for shopping cart, y'all) reveals some of the tempting delights that I treated myself to.  My modus operandi was to walk around and put everything in my cart that caught my eye.  Most of the fabrics I chose were wool, although I had a few satins as well.  I didn't purposely choose colors in the same colorways (the blues and the salmons), so I guess that is just what I am being drawn to these days.  I do have some projects in mind-- here's hoping that I'll be able to follow through.

XOXO,

You Win Some, You Lose Some

My mom unwittingly set me off on an eBay buying spree last week when she clicked on a link that led her to some 1940s patterns on the site.  In all of my madcap (as of late) buying of patterns, it somehow had not occurred to me check this rather obvious source of patterns.

A 1920s pattern that I bid on but did not win.

I immediately created a wish list of sorts, and began bidding.  I set my eye on some pretty fabulous patterns, losing a few auctions, and winning a few.  I finally cut myself off and would not allow myself to visit eBay anymore.

Beautiful 1920s patterns that I would LOVE to own but decided not to bid on since my spending was getting out of hand.  The patterns were in the same auction and only one dress was in my size.

I was surprised by the number of 1920s pattern I found.  I love the silhouette created by the drop waist, and I think it would be cool to have a dress made from an authentic 1920s pattern.  However, I am not sure that my body is suited to this particular style.  The 1920s silhouette looks best on women with longer torsos and narrow hips.

Another pattern I did not win.  I did not bid on this, but now wish I had as it was my size and sold for $4.00.

I learned the hard way that when the seller says that the pattern pieces are not counted that the buyer should take caution.  If you are buying used, vintage patterns, make sure the seller has counted all the pieces.  The one dress pattern I bought had literally five pattern pieces: cuff, collar, shorts back, shorts front, and facing.  It is totally my fault since I bought the pattern knowing that the seller had not counted the pieces, but I feel swindled in a way as it is obvious without counting that this pattern does not have everything included.  I really wish the seller had been more upfront about this, but, oh well, my lesson has been learned!

Here are the three dress patterns that I won:

Ironically, the one I wanted most (the last one with the playsuit) is the one that does not have all of the pattern pieces.  I have been wanting a playsuit ever since I saw Teresa Cotton wearing one in the 1943 Hitchcock film, Shadow of a Doubt.

Alas, just when I thought I had given up my eBay obsession, it seems I have reason to go back again.  I WILL find a playsuit pattern!


XOXO,

Roaring Twenties

Did you know that after I graduated from design school, I turned my back on all things sewing and design related? It's true. I had spent my entire college career slaving away over garments until the wee hours of the morning. Each garment would start with a series of sketches and inspiration boards, and from there we would flat pattern or drape the garment, create a pattern, fit it in muslin, and finally sew it in the fashion fabric. It was an enlightening process, but, oh, what labor of love (with the emphasis on labor)!

I moved to New York City seven months after I graduated college, and while I took a job in fashion, it had little to do with fashion design. Instead, I decided to play the part of muse, pursuing modeling rather than designing.

Well, seven years after putting down that needle (with a few exceptions here and there), my passion for sewing seems to have returned with a vengeance. These days it seems that all I think about are patterns. I am not drafting my own so much (I don't have a personalized fitting shell, nor a dress form in my proportions), but am working with store bought patterns.

A screen capture from Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)

I have bought a few modern patterns, but mostly my interest runs to patterns from earlier eras, namely the twenties to the fifties. I have spoken of my love of the styles of the 1920s before, but not unlike the protagonist of Thoroughly Modern Millie, my shape just doesn't accomodate the silhouette of the twenties. Nevertheless, I was practically salivating over this pattern book from spring 1923 that is on Ebay right now. The going price is still quite low, but I'm sure it's going to shoot up, and alas, I have no room in my budget these days for such items. Below are the seller's images from the book. They're lovely!

If you happen to be the lucky winner of this magnificent book, won't you please share the images with us?


XOXO,